Game Day. "LNZ" - "Metalist 1925"
April 26, 2025. Cherkasy, "Cherkasy Arena". 25th round of the Ukrainian Premier League. The match starts at 15:30
Referee - Maksym Koziratskyi (Zaporizhzhia)
Assistant referees - Andrii Semenov (Dnipro) and Taras Chopilko (Kyiv region)
Fourth official - Oleksandr Omelchenko (Slovyansk)
VAR referee - Mykola Balakin (Kyiv region)
VAR assistant - Dmytro Yevtukhov (Dnipro)
VAR observer - Viktor Shvetsov (Odesa)
UAF arbitration observer - Serhii Zadiran (Dnipro)
Live broadcast of the match on UPL.TV.
Preview: "Metalist 1925" continues to play in a tight schedule, playing twice a week. This week, Kharkiv residents had a cup confrontation with "Chernihiv", which they could not win, losing in a penalty shootout series. Thus, "Metalist 1925" set a club record in the Cup, reaching the semifinals of the tournament.
As for the championship standings, Mladen Bartulovich's team confidently holds 4th place, not letting 3rd place "Polissya" get too far. Currently, "Metalist 1925" has 44 points (goal difference: 30-13) and a five-match unbeaten streak. Interestingly, Vyacheslav Churko, who has recovered from an injury sustained in the game against "Shakhtar", traveled to Cherkasy with the team.
Speaking of the opponent, the team from Cherkasy is having the most successful season in its history this year. In their first season in the UPL, Vitaliy Ponomariov managed to elevate the team to the level of competing for the championship. However, failures in the last two matches have worsened LNZ's position in the championship race, but Cherkasy is still the main contender for silver medals and a place in European competitions. Currently, the team is in 2nd place with 51 points (goal difference: 35-15). After Obakh's departure, Mark Assinor became the team's top scorer, with 8 goals in the UPL.
Support "Metalist 1925"!
Ukrainian Premier League. Round 25
Friday, April 24
"Kolos" - "Poltava" - 2:0
Saturday, April 25
18:00. "Rukh" - "Karpaty" - 0:3
Sunday, April 26
13:00 "Kryvbas" - "Dynamo"
15:30. "LNZ" - "Metalist 1925"
18:00. "Kudrivka" - "Shakhtar"
18:00 "Polissya" - "Obolon"
Monday, April 27
13:00 "Epitsentr" - "Oleksandriya"
15:30 "Zorya" - "Veres"
LNZ. Profile
Established: 2006
Colors: purple and white
Home stadium - "Cherkasy Arena" (Cherkasy, Smilianska Street, 78, capacity: 10,321 spectators)
President - Dmytro Kravchenko
Head coach - Vitaliy Ponomariov
Official website - fc-lnz.com
Achievements:
Winner of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup - 2017/2018, 2020/2021
Champion of Ukraine among amateurs - 2021
Bronze medalist of the Second League - 2021/2022
Bronze medalist of the First League - 2022/2023
Geography: Fans of "LNZ" are mainly concentrated in the city of Cherkasy and Cherkasy region, as the club is based there and has the closest connection with the local community. After entering the Ukrainian Premier League, the geography of fans gradually expanded to other parts of the country thanks to television broadcasts and the club's activity on social networks. In addition, a small part of the fans are among Ukrainians abroad, especially in European countries, where many emigrants from the Cherkasy region or fans of Ukrainian football in general reside.
Historical background: "LNZ" has its historical roots from 2006, when a club named "Shpola-LNZ-Lebedyn" was founded (it would be grand to keep it and add the present Cherkasy, which the team represents now) - part of the expenses were covered by the Shpola local budget, hence it was included in the name. Over time, as we can see, only "LNZ" remained in the name. This name, as we can guess, hides the Lebedyn seed plant - an enterprise of the club owners, the "LNZ-group" holding. And from then until 2017, the team played at the regional level. After that, the team moved to the national level, initially it was an amateur championship and cup, as mentioned above - these performances were quite successful and winning. And then, from 2021, the team embarked on a professional football path, starting to play in the Second League - at the end of the unfinished season, the team took third place. And in the next, or the last season, the first during the war, the team started in the First League. At the end of the championship, LNZ took the third place and earned the right to play in the play-off matches, where they defeated "Inhulets" and earned the right to play in the Premier League, bringing elite Ukrainian football to Cherkasy.
Head Coach
The head coach of "LNZ" is a 51-year-old specialist Vitaliy Yuriyovych Ponomariov. He was born on December 7, 1973
Playing career: before his coaching career, Ponomariov was better known as a football referee. But in 1994, there was even a Third Football League in Ukrainian football. So, the current coach of "Rukh" played several matches as a professional footballer for the "LAZ" club there.
Coaching career: worked at the "Karpaty" youth school, led the amateur "Mykolaiv" from Lviv region and the Lviv region national team. In 2020, he took over the youth team of "Rukh" and later the main team. Since this summer, he has been in charge of "LNZ".
